The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Friday that it has filed charges against Farhad Shakeri, an Iranian national, for allegedly participating in an assassination plot orchestrated by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to kill former President Donald Trump. The DOJ statement claims that Shakeri, acting under IRGC orders, was instructed on October 7, 2024, to devise a plan to assassinate Trump. Shakeri reportedly admitted to U.S. law enforcement that he was tasked with formulating the plan but stated he did not intend to carry out the assignment in the allotted time frame.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei dismissed the U.S. accusations, labeling them a “repulsive plot” supposedly fabricated by Israel and Iranian opposition groups to inflame U.S.-Iran relations.
Shakeri, 51, is described by prosecutors as an operative of the IRGC currently residing in Tehran. Although he lived in the United States during his youth, he was deported in 2008 following a conviction for robbery, and he is now believed to be at large in Iran.
The DOJ also charged two former prison associates of Shakeri, New York residents Carlisle Rivera and Jonathan Loadholt, for their involvement in an alleged plot to kill a U.S. citizen of Iranian descent who has openly criticized Iran’s government. This unnamed individual is reported to be a prominent activist and journalist advocating for women’s rights in Iran, believed to be Masih Alinejad. Alinejad, who has faced prior threats, was targeted in a kidnapping plot involving four Iranians in 2021 and had a man armed with a rifle arrested outside her New York home in 2022.
Rivera and Loadholt are currently in custody, pending trial, with their defense attorneys yet to respond to requests for comment. The DOJ’s move to pursue these charges highlights the growing tension over alleged foreign-directed operations targeting U.S. citizens and officials.
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